October 28, 2005	Friday	Ramzan 23, 1426

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LAHORE, Oct 27: Almost 2,800 beds in five teaching hospitals in the city, reserved for quake victims, have been lying un-occupied for the last two weeks at the cost of local patients’ right to indoor treatment.

The city hospitals have been put on a red alert and awaiting quake victims to be airlifted from Rawalpindi. The hospitals were expecting a C-1 30 plane carrying a large number of injured from the quake-hit areas on Thursday. However, it proved to be only a ‘rumour’.

Only 143 patients, along with their 26 attendants, have been airlifted to the city for treatment by six flights operated by PAF and Pakistan Navy’s small aircrafts during the last two weeks or so. Another 717 victims were brought by their relatives and attendants and were admitted to the teaching hospitals.

Of total 860 quake victims admitted to these hospitals, some 522 patients have so far been discharged after required treatment, including surgeries. Only 338 patients are currently getting indoor treatment at the city hospitals.

All the five teaching hospitals in the city had reserved 3,100 beds for quake victims following the federal government’s instructions just a couple of days after the disaster hit the country, ravaging Azad Jammu & Kashmir and the NWFP areas on Oct 8.

The quake victims, who were brought to Lahore, by first five flights were directly taken to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and later some of them were referred to different tertiary care hospitals.

The Punjab health department had directly received only 15 patients, along with 16 attendants, at the old Lahore airport on Oct 20. These patients, except the one entitled for the CMH, were directly taken to the Jinnah Hospital.

Since the respective hospitals’ managements discharged most patients to reserve beds for the quake victims, the local patients requiring various sort of surgery and indoor treatment were facing serious problems.

During visits to different city hospitals in the last couple of days, a number of patients complained that the hospitals’ managements were allowing local patients in their emergencies only but denying them admission.

Some patients told Dawn that they were admitted to hospitals but were discharged on the pretext that their beds were needed to be reserved for quake victims. They said their condition deteriorated and they had to rush back to the hospitals’ emergencies. “The hospitals’ managements are not allowing indoor admission and insisting that they (patients) should go back homes and take prescribed medicines,”some patients’ relatives said.

Similarly, a number of patients complained that no indoor admission was being done through outdoor departments of the hospitals.

The Mayo and Jinnah hospitals had reserved 1,000 beds each, Services Hospital reserved 500 beds, Ganga Ram Hospital (300 beds) and the Lahore General Hospital had reserved 300 beds for the quake victims.

According to a break-up of quake victims admitted to five teaching hospitals through the CMH or by their relatives, the Mayo Hospital has so far received 228 such patients, including only 24 referred by the CMH. Of all 228 patients, 119 patients have so far been discharged after treatment.

Similarly, the Jinnah Hospital had received 125 quake victims, including the 14 patients directly received from the airport. Of these 125 patients, two patients have succumbed to their injuries and 65 were discharged.

At the Services Hospital, some 264 quake victims, including 36 patients referred by the CMH, were admitted. Of all the admitted patients, some 180 patients had so far been discharged. At Ganga Ram Hospitals, some 56 quake victims were admitted, who were brought by their attendants individually. Of them 18 patients had so far been discharged. At the Lahore General Hospital, some 120 patients were admitted, who were brought by their attendants individually. Of them, 73 patients had so far been discharged.

When contacted, medical superintendents of all the five teaching hospitals admitted that a large number of hospital beds, reserved for quake victims, were lying un-occupied for the last two weeks. They also admitted that most local patients were being denied indoor admission through emergency, while no patient coming to outdoor departments were being allowed access to the hospital wards.

Mayo Hospital medical superintendent Dr Fayyaz Ranjha said that he had asked all hospital departments to start admitting local patients as no major influx of quake victims was in sight.

Still, he said, the hospital could arrange 1,000 beds for the victims on just six-hour notice. He said the hospital had purchased 500 new beds and could bring out local and routine patients’ beds in hospital verandas, when quake victims would arrive.

“Now the routine patients are not being denied regular medical treatment at the hospital. The general surgery and orthopaedic operations are now being conducted in routine without jeopardizing services to the quake victims,” Dr Ranjha said.

Fatima Jinnah Medical College/Ganga Ram Hospital Principal Prof Akbar Chaudhry said the hospital was required to reserve 500 beds. He admitted that the local patients were facing serious problems at the hospital, which used to function to its full capacity.

“We are also receiving patients, who are approaching the hospital for different surgeries in view of a better season for operations. But, the hospital administration is compelled to refuse them,” Prof Chaudhry said.

Prof Chaudhry also said a hospital team that had returned from quake-hit areas told him that the number of patients with acute injuries had reduced drastically in view of a large number of field hospitals set up in the quake-hit areas. He said that even the Rawalpindi hospitals were not receiving new patients but those who had infected wounds after initial treatment.

The team said that most quake victims were also insisting that they should be treated near their hometowns where they wanted to return at the earliest and find their savings in their destroyed homes.

Services Hospital medical superintendent Dr Riaz Chaudhry said the hospital was not admitting ‘cold cases’ coming through its outdoor department. He, however, said that the hospital would begin routine list of operations from Friday (today).

Jinnah Hospital medical superintendent Dr Zahid Pervaiz said some 950 hospital beds were currently lying un-occupied. In view of no quake victims coming to Lahore, he said, the hospital had started admitting general patients.

Lahore General Hospital medical superintendent Dr Ejaz Sheikh said the hospital was not doing cold surgery cases for the last two weeks.

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